Lafayette Comes to Bowl Saturday at Noon

For the first time in 19 seasons, the Lafayette football team is
coming to West Haven to take on Yale. The Bulldogs, who opened Ivy
League play with a 14-12 loss to Cornell at the Bowl, and Leopards
can be seen live on the Lafayette Sports Network (LSN) and heard on
WELI (AM-960, 960weli.com) and WYBC (AM-1340, wybc.com). This
Saturday's kickoff at the Bowl is at noon.

CATCHING THE TV BROADCAST

LSN is on RCN-4 and WBPH-60 covering all of
Eastern Pennsylvania. RCN subscribers in Boston, New York City,
Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. can watch on RCN-8. Beyond the
region, LSN is available on DIRECTV (640) and DISH Network (432)
via the Mid Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).

THE SERIES

It's the first meeting at Yale Bowl since 1990,
but Yale and Lafayette met in 2006 at Easton, a 37-34 Eli win. The
Blue has won all seven games dating to 1912 including four straight
shutouts to start the series.

LAST MEETING

Yale turned Lafayette over on four of the first
six Leopard possessions on the way to a 37-34 win at Fisher
Stadium. Bulldogs' RB Mike McLeod '09 rushed for 172 yards and
three TDs, but WR Chandler Henley '06 had to recover an on-side
kick to clinch the victory.

BULLDOGS COME UP SHORT IN IVY OPENER

The Yale defense held Cornell to three first
downs and 166 yards of total offense -- and only 85 after a long
scoring pass play on the visitor's first play from scrimmage -- but
the Big Red got on the board first and held on for a 14-12 win at
the Bowl. Yale sophomore QB Patrick Witt (Wylie, Texas) dove into
the end zone from a yard out as time expired to set up a two-point
attempt on the game's last play. Witt tried to find an open
receiver over the middle, but the pass fell incomplete to give
Cornell its second straight win over the Blue and its first at the
Bowl since 1996.

LEOPARDS BITE QUAKERS

David Rodriguez kicked two FGs, including a
28-yarder in OT, as Lafayette beat Penn 20-17 Saturday night at
Fisher Stadium. The Quakers overcame a 17-0 deficit to tie the game
and force the extra play. Lafayette totaled 304 yards in a
statistically balanced game that had just one turnover. Rob Curley
completed 18 of 27 passes for 208 yards, including eight to
Lafayette receiver Mark Layton, who had a 19-yard TD catch. LB
Michael Schmidlein, who averages better than 10 tackles per game,
led all players with 16 (13-3) against Penn.

DEFENSE OUTSTANDING

The Yale defense allowed just one TD for the
second straight week, but this time the Bulldogs did not bend much.
Georgetown managed to pass the ball well outside the red zone, but
Cornell picked up only 85 yards after scoring on an 81-yard pass
play off a lateral on the Red's first play. The Cornell offense had
166 yards of total offense and was 2-for-18 on third downs. Senior
LB Tim Handlon (Valparaiso, Ind.) had the only Yale interception
(3rd career, 2nd of 2009), while senior captain and LB Paul Rice
(Cleveland Heights, Ohio) led the Blue with six solos. Junior DT
Joe Young (Shrewsbury, Mass.) registered his team-best second sack
of the year. He and junior DT Patrick Moran (Alexandria, Va.) had
the only Bulldog sacks.

MANTE GETS 2ND IVY HONOR

Senior P/PK Tom Mante (Westford, Mass.) was
named Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week for the second
time this fall. He opened the season by hitting a career-long
50-yard FG at Georgetown, booming punts of 73 and 65 yards and
recovering his own on-side kick. Last week he tied the Ivy League
record with a 54-yarder against Cornell. His long boot came on the
final play of the first half and brought Yale to within a point of
the Big Red. Mante now shares the league mark with five others, but
no kicker had reached from that distance since 1976. In addition,
no Ivy kicker has hit 50-yard field goals on consecutive Saturdays.
Otis Guernsey drop kicked a 54-yarder for the Bulldogs in 1915.
Last week against Cornell, he had a school record 12 punts,
including six inside the 20, and earned the Walter Camp Yale Player
of the Game. Mante, whose interview with Ron Vaccaro '04 on WELI
radio airs at halftime this Saturday, was an All-Ivy selection at
both positions last fall.

TOUGHING IT OUT

Sophomore QB Patrick Witt (Wylie, Texas)
overcame three interceptions and a 21-for-54 day (180 yards) to
bring the Blue to within a play of sending the Ivy opener to
overtime. After taking numerous hits that would have knocked some
QBs out of a game, Witt drove Yale 47 yards in 1:35 before diving
in from a yard out as time expired. The last time a Yale QB
attempted 54 passes was in 2005 against Holy Cross when Jeff Mroz
'05 went 33-for-56 with 333 yards in a 22-19 loss.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Patrick Witt, a Bulldog newcomer who transferred
last summer from Nebraska, is also a writer. He penned an editorial
in the Sept. 18 Yale Herald about President Obama's stimulus
package stating that the "package has failed to stimulate
anything." He may not need an audible for that call.

RELIEF WORK

When Yale's top return man WR Gio Christodoulou
(Miami, Fla.), who had two catches and a 19-yard kick return, left
the game with an injury, freshman WR Chris Smith (Midlothian, Va.)
provided solid relief. Smith returned seven punts, caught three
passes (32 yards) and took one kickoff 33 yards. He had to do the
same thing when Christodoulou had to leave the Georgetown game.

O-LINE

The five Bulldogs' starters listed on the
current depth chart average 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds. There are four
juniors and one senior, none of whom were starters before 2009.
Some were backups with limited varsity snaps in 2008 while others
played exclusively with the JV. Backup RT Cory Palmer (Wooster,
Ohio) started six games last fall at RG.

TURNOVERS KEY

Yale led the FCS in fewest turnovers in 2002 and
2003, while the Elis have been among the top 10 in turnover margin
the last five seasons. The first two games of 2009 are a different
story. The Bulldogs lost two fumbles at Georgetown and threw three
interceptions against Cornell. Both opponents returned turnovers
for scores. The Elis have picked off three passes but have yet to
grab an opponent's fumble this fall.

BULLDOG BITES

Yale had two scoring plays with no time left on
the clock and the end of a half last week... The three Cornell
first downs were not the least allowed by a Yale defense. The Elis
held Princeton (1945), Bates (1951) and Lafayette (1952) to one...
Yale and Cornell combined for 27 punts... Lafayette has two players
from Connecticut, senior OL Brian Wycinowski (Cheshire) and junior
FB Mark Hall (Groton).

ABARE PLAYER/COACH

Senior DB Larry Abare (Acton, Mass.) leads the
Blue with 10 solos and 16 overall stops. He picked up where he and
his brother left off last fall. Larry made a game-high seven solos
and 12 total tackles in the win at Georgetown. His twin, Bobby '09,
an All-America LB, is now a graduate assistant coach for the LBs at
Wagner College (2-2, 1-0 NEC).

FARRELL FEATURED

After rushing for two scores and 91 yards in his
first career start in week one, senior RB Jordan Farrell (Orland
Park, Ill.) had eight more attempts (25) for 74 yards against the
Big Red. The 5-foot-10, 220-pound back, who missed 2008 with an
injury, earned Walter Camp Yale Player of the Game honors at
Georgetown.

COACH WILLIAMS

Tom Williams was named the Joel E. Smilow '54
Head Coach of Yale Football last January and came to New Haven
after spending two seasons as an assistant for the NFL's
Jacksonville Jaguars. Williams has 11 seasons of college coaching
experience. He is the 33rd Yale head football coach but just the
third in the last 44 years.

WILLIAMS AFTER LAST SATURDAY

"We had our opportunities, we just couldn't
capitalize," said Tom Williams, Yale's Joel E. Smilow ‘54
Head Coach of Football, who was making his Yale Bowl debut. "We had
guys open, we had opportunities in the run game, and there was a
time where we were getting four or five yards per play. But then
we'd shoot ourselves in the foot with a penalty [Yale had seven] or
a turnover [Yale had three]. They [Cornell] had been a man-to-man
team, especially in the red zone. We had a rub route called [for
the last play of the game] with the opportunity to get the guy open
in the flat. We had what we wanted, we just didn't execute."

CATCHING WILLIAMS

Williams can be heard Monday nights on WYBC
(AM-1340) from 8 to 8:30 on the Yale Sports Monday Show. The Yale
segment of the weekly Ivy League media teleconference is 11:53 AM
on Tuesdays, while he and some of his players will be at the Yale
Bookstore every Tuesday at 2 p.m. for the Dick Galiette Press
Conference.

FIRST-YEAR BLUE

Tom Williams, off to a 1-1 start, begins his
Yale career following a full spectrum of success in debut seasons.
The best debut campaign for a Yale head coach was the first, Walter
Camp (13-0 and National Champs) in 1888. The next 20 coaches
enjoyed comparable success in the early years of the sport.
However, wins for new coaches in the later part of the 20th century
did not come so easily. Two of the five Eli mentors since 1950 had
better than .500 marks, Jordan Olivar (7-2 in 1952) and John Pont
(6-3 in 1963). Herman Hickman went 4-5 in 1948, Carm Cozza was 3-6
in 1965 and Jack Siedlecki was 1-9 in 1997.

WILLIAMS "ON THE AIR" IN 2009

Day Time Venue Event

Mondays 8 pm WYBC Radio Yale Sports Monday at
Lansdowne

Tuesdays 11:53 am Ivy Teleconference Media
Call-in with questions

Tuesdays 2 pm Yale Bookstore Galiette Press
Conference

STAFF NOTES

Two Yale assistant coaches spent time last
summer at NFL training camps as intern coaches. Kefense Hynson, who
works with Yale's receivers, was with Oakland. Ikaika Malloe, the
Joel E. Smilow '54 Defensive Coordinator, worked with
Jacksonville... Mike Sanford, the mentor for the Yale TEs and a
former Boise State QB, is the son of UNLV football head coach Mike
Sanford. The Rebels are 2-2 after falling to Wyoming last week...
Student assistant coach Isaiah DeLeon-Mares, who worked at the
Warrick Dunn Foundation, also worked with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
last summer.

IVY NOTES

Harvard edged Brown 24-21 last Friday night at
Boston. The Bears recovered an on-side kick and drove deep into
Harvard territory before the Crimson batted down a final pass...
No. 6 New Hampshire beat Dartmouth 44-14 at Durham... Columbia led
13-0 over Central Connecticut before falling 22-13 at New York... A
77-yard interception return led Princeton in a 17-14 win at
Lehigh... Penn erased a 17-0 deficit but fell 20-17 in OT at
Lafayette... This week's league games are Penn at Dartmouth and
Columbia at Princeton.

BULLDOG CHAT

Jim Fuller, the New Haven Register's Yale football beat
reporter, will begin a series of Yale football chats on Wednesday,
Sept. 30, at 2 p.m. The chats will happen every Wednesday at that
time. The address is nhregister.com/chat.

FATHER OF FOOTBALL

For the 10th straight season, the Walter Camp
Football Foundation honors Yale's game MVP as the Walter Camp Yale
Player of the Game. This award is handed out both at home and on
the road. Walter Camp (class of 1880), commonly known as the father
of American football, captained two Yale teams and coached five
others. He compiled a 67-2-0 record and won three national titles
as coach. Senior RB Jordan Farrell (Orland Park, Ill.) earned the
first award in 2009 with a 5.4 average per carry and two scores at
Georgetown. Week No. 2 went to senior PK/P Tom Mante (Westford,
Mass.), who tied the Yale record with a 54-yard FG and punted a
Yale record 12 times with six inside the Cornell 20-yard line.

WALTER CAMP DAY

This Saturday is Walter Camp Day at the Bowl. The Walter Camp
Football Foundation in conjunction with the Yale-NH Hospital
Auxilary's Toy Closets Program is asking fans to bring a new
unwrapped toy to support the cause and in return, receive a free
general admission ticket to the game. Toys can be dropped off at
the Hospitality Village on Central Avenue, which
is located near Gates D & E. This is the 10th year the
Walter Camp Foundation has coordinated this toy drive and the first
with event sponsor, the law firm of Berchem, Moses & Devlin,
P.C.

Seven former Yale football players are working
in the game this fall, either in the college or pro ranks. Mike
McCaskey '65, chairman of the Chicago Bears, Buffalo head coach
Dick Jauron '73, Bob Wallace '78 (Executive V.P. and General
Council, St. Louis Rams) and New England assistant coach Pat Graham
'01 are the Bulldogs in the NFL. Bob Shoop '88, defensive
coordinator at William & Mary, Merchant Marine Academy
offensive coordinator Kyle Metzler '02 and Bobby Abare '09,
linebackers coach at Wagner, work at colleges.

CAPTAIN RICE

Paul Rice (Cleveland Heights, Ohio), a senior LB
who is second on the team with 13 total tackles, is the 132nd Yale
football captain. He came to Yale as a talented RB but moved to
defense when asked to his freshman year. Rice, who has 128 total
career tackles and six interceptions, started at CB the last three
years before moving to LB this season. His father, Lou Rice, played
defense for Harvard.

H-BACK

Six-foot-2, 235-pound senior H-B John Sheffield
(Portland, Ore.) leads the team with 13 catches and 97 yards. Media
preparing to cover Yale games always ask where he typically lines
up. Sheffield can be found in the backfield, in the slot, next to a
tackle on the line or split out wide. An H-Back (don't confuse it
with HB for halfback), also known as a power back, is a hybrid
combining the TE and FB positions. Sheffield has 78 career catches,
while his one rushing attempt was a lateral pass that turned into a
seven-yard TD against Penn in 2008.

NO. 28 WATCHING

When freshman RB Mordecai Cargill (Cleveland,
Ohio) got his first collegiate carry, a 10-yard run in the first
half, he probably didn't know the significance of the moment.
Cargill, who wears No. 28 and earned a shot at varsity playing time
with a great pre-season camp, didn't know who wore that number
until one of his teammates told him. Mike McLeod '09, who owns
every Yale rushing record wearing the same number, was two rows
from the surface of Multi-Sport Field watching his first game as an
alum. "I learned of my jersey number the same time the rest of the
freshmen did. The first thing Lou Scigliano (assistant equipment
director) said was that I have big shoes to fill," said Cargill. "I
found out who wore No. 28 on my recruiting visit, and I'm honored
that the coaches' expectations of me are high enough for them to
give me this number. My expectations of myself are higher still,
and with due respect to Mike McLeod, I look forward to creating my
own legacy with No. 28."

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Sophomore LB Austin Pulsipher (Temecula, Calif.)
came to Yale three years ago and was part of the 2006 Ivy League
co-championship team before heading to greater Taipei, Taiwan for a
two-year Mormon mission. He became fluent in Mandarin Chinese,
served in many leadership roles and taught a drug rehabilitation
program while managing the finances of over 150 missionaries.

BULLDOGS LOVE BOWL

Yale is 363-191-26 overall in 580 games played
at the Bowl. The Elis are 123-74-4 in Ivy games. Yale has had seven
perfect and 11 undefeated seasons in the Bowl since it opened in
1914.

ELI VOTE

A survey of this fall's Yale squad revealed
interesting character traits about its members. Here are the
results of the voting on Bulldog players:

Three members of the Yale coaching staff have
ties to Hawaii, and Tom Williams has instituted Hawaiin Fridays in
the football office. Any staffers caught without a Hawaain style
shirt on a Friday on the third floor of Ray Tompkins House is
subject to a one dollar fine. Sophomore OL Gabriel Fernandez
(Honolulu) is the first Yale football player from Hawaii in 10
years. WR Jimmy Bennett '00 (Honolulu), who played on the 1999 Ivy
League championship squad, was the last Eli from the 50th state.

BROTHER YALE

Seven current Bulldogs have brothers who play or
played Yale football. Current Yale football brother combinations
include junior OLB Sean and freshman QB Scott Williams (Portland,
Ore.) and junior DB Marcus and senior OLB Jack Wallace (Germantown,
Wis.).

COUNTRY BOY WITH GIFT OF GAB

Can you picture a 290-pound guy in bib overalls
running an auction? If you could, it might be freshman OL Jeff
Marrs (Garden Prairie, Ill.), who grew up on a farm of about 2,000
acres near Rockford, Ill. Marrs, his brother and grandfather are
all auctioneers. The 6-foot-3, 290-pound former all-state lineman
made his collegiate debut last Saturday.

DOGS WELCOME AT LANSDOWNE

A dog-friendly bar is open in New Haven this
fall. Yale coaches and athletes will frequent Lansdowne Bar &
Grill (179 Crown Street) Monday nights from 7-9 for WYBC Radio's
sports lineup. At 8, Tom Williams, the Joel E. Smilow '54 Head
Coach of Yale Football, makes a weekly appearance on "Yale Sports
Monday" with Anthony Brooks'03 MM and Sam Purdy ‘10. Athletes
and coaches from all sports, including football, will be
interviewed each week on "Yale Sports Monday" from 8-9. From 7-8
Michael Dunn '10 and Sam Levander '10 host "Cover 2 Sports," a
comprehensive national sports talk show.

YALE JV BEATS MILFORD ACADEMY

Freshman RB Taylor Stibb (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
caught a 40-yard TD pass in Yale's 8-0 junior varsity win over
Milford Academy on Sept. 27. That was the first of six Yale JV
games. The only road contest is on Oct. 4 at Brown. the only
non-Sunday afternoon game is the Friday, Nov. 20, showdown with
Harvard.

TRUE BLUE ROSTER

The 2009 Yale football roster includes 60 high
school football captains and 41 captains of other sports. The Elis
also list 52 National Honor Society members, six student body
presidents, six valedictorians and three salutatorians.

BULLDOG HOLIDAY

Yale may be the only football team in America to
have had a state holiday decreed because of its visit. In 1929 (80
years ago this fall) when Yale visited the University of Georgia to
be its dedication opponent for the opening of Sanford Stadium, the
governor issued a proclamation making the day a legal holiday in
honor of Yale University and of the Yale men who founded the state
university in Georgia.

YALE ON TV

Eight Yale football games will air live on TV
this fall, including four of five home games. Yale on YES is back
for a second season with three straight Ivy League games (Columbia,
Brown, Princeton) on the network of the New York Yankees. The YES
Network, available nationally on DirecTV, Verizon's FiOS service
and on select cable systems, is the country's No. 1 regional sports
network. Two contests (Cornell, Harvard) will be broadcast on
Versus, the national cable home of the National Hockey League that
is in more than 73 million homes. Other Yale games aired in 2009
include Penn (Comcast), Lafayette (RCN) and Lehigh (Service
Electric 2).

CAMPING OUT

The Bulldogs have begun a tradition befitting
the school responsible for shaping the game of football. Prior to
every home game, Coach Williams will gather the team under the
Walter Camp Field Memorial (see photo) to remind the Bulldogs of
their proud heritage. Walter Camp '1880, who coached the Blue
(67-2) for five seasons and was instrumental in shaping the rules
as we know them, is commonly referred to as the father of American
football.

WELI RADIO

NEWS/Talk 960 WELI broadcasts all Yale football
games on AM (960) and online at weli.com. Yale football coaching
legend Carm Cozza, a 2003 College Football Hall of Fame inductee,
is in his 12th season as the color commentator for WELI broadcasts.
Ron Vaccaro '04 returns for his fourth year as play-by-play
announcer. Vaccaro is a two-time Emmy Award winner for his work
with NBC Olympics, his primary employer since 2004. His on-air
resume also includes the 2008 Beijing Olympics for NBC and the 2009
World Swimming Championships for Universal Sports. Sideline
reporter Alex Goldberger '08, engineer Tom Ivanovich and spotter
Kevin Guarino add the finishing touches to the broadcasts.

CONROY BACK IN THE BOOTH

Former Yale center Will Conroy '04, an attorney
in Tampa, Fla., will join Cozza and Vaccaro in the WELI booth for
the third quarter this Saturday to share his thoughts. Conroy, a
former member of the WYBC Radio sports team, commentated on Yale
sports while also working the NCAA Women's Frozen Four. He has
already worked with Vaccaro on WELI broadcasts of Yale football.

WYBC RADIO

WYBC (AM 1340) also covers each game. WFAN Radio
personality Bob Heussler, WYBC's Director of Football Radio
Broadcasts, and Anthony Brooks '03 MM, the station's sports
coordinator, lead a talented group of Yale students who can also be
heard on wybc.com. Yale football is also included in WYBC's Monday
night sports lineup from Lansdowne Bar & Grill (179 Crown
Street). At 8 pm, Tom Williams, the Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach
of Yale Football, makes a weekly appearance on "Yale Sports
Monday."

TEAMLINE

Another way to listen to Yale games live is by
calling TEAMLINE at 800.846.4700 and using Yale's code 5682.

BULLDOGS AT BOOKSTORE

The Dick Galiette/Yale Football Press Conference
has moved from the Course at Yale back to campus with the first
edition on Sept. 15. The new location is the Yale Bookstore, which
will host this event for 10 Tuesdays at 2 p.m. Coach Williams and a
selection of players will take part in the press conferences that
are streamed live by Sportingnewsct.com. They will take place on
the second floor where all the book signings are done. The press
conferences are open to the public, but questions for Williams and
his players are limited to the working media. The Yale Bookstore is
also the sponsor of the Yale Sports Hotline (203.432.YALE), where
Yale fans get game-day scores without going to their computers.

NETCASTS/PODCASTS

Ron Vaccaro '04 hosts a series of video netcast
interviews, which will include the Yale football team and other
Yale athletics content, on yalebulldogs.com. Vaccaro also has a set
of audio netcasts featuring the team for Apple iTunes users at
itunes.yale.edu.

YORKSIDE AT BOWL

Media take note... The Yale Bowl may be in West
Haven, but the press box has a taste of New Haven with Yorkside
Pizza & Restaurant serving slices and salad on home Saturdays.
Rather than interrupting your work with a lunch at halftime, the
food is now served on its arrival before kickoff.

IVY WEEKLY TELECONFERENCES

The Ivy League will hold a weekly football
coaches' teleconference every Tuesday during the 2009 season
beginning September 15 and running through November 17. Each
teleconference will begin at 11 a.m. ET. Each coach will be
available for a seven-minute window to preview his team's upcoming
opponent and answer questions from the media. A replay of the
teleconferences will be made available on www.IvyLeagueSports.com.
To access the call, use the following (877) 548-7906 and Passcode:
9204583.

Ivy Teleconference Schedule

11:04 am Phil Estes, Brown

11:11 am Norries Wilson, Columbia

11:18 am Jim Knowles, Cornell

11:25 am Buddy Teevens, Dartmouth

11:32 am Tim Murphy, Harvard

11:39 am Al Bagnoli, Penn

11:46 am Roger Hughes, Princeton

11:53 am Tom Williams, Yale

THE GAME IN IMAX

A documentary film titled GameDay that will
include footage from the 2009 Yale-Harvard game will appear in IMAX
3D theatres around the country later this fall. The film will
provide an all access pass to college football focusing on the
preparation, traditions, rivalries and pageantry.

100 YEARS AGO

This November the Yale/Harvard contest in the
Bowl will mark the one hundredth anniversary of the historic
National Championship Game of 1909.The 1909 Yale-Harvard game, an
8-0 Bulldogs win, featured two undefeated teams (the next matchup
of undefeated squads in The Game was in 1968). Yale won the
national championship and preserved its unbeaten, untied and
unscored on marks. Three future members of the Football Hall of
Fame suited up for the game. For Yale: fullback Ted Coy and end
John Reed Kilpatrick and for Harvard: tackle Hamilton Fish. A
reunion of family members is planned for this November's game.